2006 ROUTE TO THE TOP
NOVEMBER 11, 2006
Research for the 12th annual Route to the Top was prepared by Meghan Felicelli and Kelley Allen, Spencer Stuart, Chicago, Illinois. Research and trend comparisons are based on the S&P 500 ranking as of April 15, 2006; Fortune’s past rankings of the top 1,000 U.S. companies; Fortune’s May 5, 1980, ranking of the largest U.S. industrial corporations; and Fortune’s July 14, 1980, ranking of the 50 largest non-industrial companies.
Sources:
- > Marquis Who’s Who in America, 1980-1981
The following areas were researched and analyzed for this report:
General analysis
- > Age
Regional Analysis
- > Age
Industrial Analysis
Top industries represented in the S&P 500
In some categories, the total number of CEOs adds up to more than 100 due to companies that have co-CEOs.
501 CEOs were researched for this study. The breakdown per S&P 500 group is as follows:
1-100: 100 CEOs
101-200: 100 CEOs
201-300: 101 CEOs
301-400: 100 CEOs
401-500: 100 CEOs
2006 ROUTE TO THE TOP
SUMMARY ANALYSIS
AGE INFORMATION
Average/Median Age
|
S&P 500 CEO Group |
Average Age |
Median Age |
Fortune CEO Group |
Average Age |
|
’06 1-100 |
56 years |
56 years |
’80 1-100 |
59 years |
|
’06 101-200 |
55 |
55 |
’80 101-200 |
58 |
|
’06 1-200 |
56 |
56 |
’80 1-200 |
59 |
|
’06 201-300 |
55 |
55 |
’80 201-300 |
60 |
|
’06 1-300 |
56 |
56 |
’80 1-300 |
59 |
|
’06 301-400 |
55 |
55 |
|
|
|
’06 1-400 |
55 |
56 |
|
|
|
’06 401-500 |
53 |
52 |
|
|
|
‘06 1-500 |
55 |
55 |
|
|
- > The median age for S&P 500 CEOs this year is 55. Over the past five years, the median age for the leading 500 CEOs has wavered between 55 and 56 years.
Age Ranges
Current
*Rounded percentages may not equal 100%
|
Range |
‘06 1-100 |
‘06 1-200 |
‘06 1-300 |
‘06 1-400 |
‘06 1-500 |
|
Below 40 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
|
40-49 |
7% |
11% |
14% |
16% |
20% |
|
50-59 |
68% |
65% |
62% |
60% |
58% |
|
60-69 |
24% |
22% |
21% |
21% |
20% |
|
70 & above |
1% |
2% |
2% |
3% |
3% |
|
Range |
’06 1-100 |
‘06 101-200 |
‘06 201-300 |
‘06 301-400 |
‘06 401-500 |
|
Below 40 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
|
40-49 |
7% |
15% |
21% |
23% |
32% |
|
50-59 |
68% |
62% |
58% |
53% |
49% |
|
60-69 |
24% |
20% |
19% |
21% |
16% |
|
70 & above |
1% |
3% |
2% |
3% |
3% |
- > For the past two years distribution of CEOs in the 50 to 59 age range increased from 54% to 58%.
1980
|
Range |
’80 1-100 |
’80 101-200 |
’80 1-200 |
’80 201-300 |
’80 1-300 |
|
Below 40 |
1% |
0% |
1% |
0% |
1% |
|
40-49 |
1% |
11% |
6% |
3% |
5% |
|
50-59 |
45% |
47% |
45% |
45% |
46% |
|
60-69 |
51% |
41% |
46% |
45% |
45% |
|
70 & above |
2% |
1% |
2% |
7% |
3% |
- > In 1980, the majority (51%) of the Fortune 100 CEOs were age 60-69. Today, the majority (68%) fall into the 50-59 year age range.
New CEO Median Age
New CEOs are those who have been in office for one year or less at the time research began in April 2006. (Years are rounded to whole numbers.)
|
|
‘06 1-100 |
‘06 101-200 |
‘06 201-300 |
‘06 301-400 |
‘06 401-500 |
|
Median Age |
56 |
54 |
53 |
51 |
50 |
- > There were a total of 99 new CEOs included in the study this year, down 1% from last year.
- > The Median age for new CEOs in the S&P 500, 52 years, is lower than the median than the S&P 500 median for all CEOs which is 55 years.
New CEO Age Ranges (percentages only include CEOs in office one year or less at initiation of research)
|
Range |
‘06 1-100 |
‘06 1-200 |
‘06 1-300 |
‘06 1-400 |
‘06 1-500 |
|
Below 40 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
|
40-49 |
12% |
11% |
16% |
24% |
29% |
|
50-59 |
65% |
71% |
69% |
63% |
59% |
|
60-69 |
23% |
17% |
15% |
13% |
12% |
|
70 & above |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
|
Range |
‘06 1-100 |
‘06 101-200 |
‘06 201-300 |
‘06 301-400 |
‘06 401-500 |
|
Below 40 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
|
40 – 49 |
12% |
11% |
26% |
41% |
48% |
|
50 – 59 |
65% |
78% |
63% |
50% |
43% |
|
60 – 69 |
23% |
11% |
11% |
9% |
9% |
|
70 & above |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
- > As with last year, the majority of new CEOs in the S&P 500 are in the 50 to 59 age range. The percentage of new CEOs over age 50 increased from 64% to 69% from 2004 to 2005 and to 71% in 2006, a total increase of 7 percentage points in the past two years.
TENURE WITH COMPANY
Average/Median Tenure with Company
|
S&P 500 CEO Group |
Average Tenure |
Median Tenure |
Fortune CEO Group |
Average Tenure |
|
’06 1-100 |
19 |
19 |
’80 1-100 |
26 years |
|
’06 101-200 |
18 |
17 |
’80 101-200 |
22 |
|
’06 1-200 |
18 |
17.5 |
’80 1-200 |
24 |
|
’06 201-300 |
17 |
16 |
’80 201-300 |
24 |
|
’06 1-300 |
18 |
16 |
’80 1-300 |
24 |
|
’06 301-400 |
16 |
14.5 |
|
|
|
’06 1-400 |
17 |
16 |
|
|
|
’06 401-500 |
15 |
13 |
|
|
|
‘06 1-500 |
17 |
14 |
|
|
- > Median tenure continues to steadily decrease, down from 19 years in 2000, 17 in 2003, 16 in 2004, 15 in 2005 and 14 in 2006.
Tenure with Company Ranges
Current
|
Range (years) |
’06 1-100 |
’06 1-200 |
‘06 1-300 |
‘06 1-400 |
‘06 1-500 |
|
below 5 |
14% |
16% |
21% |
18% |
18% |
|
5-14 |
31% |
30% |
26% |
30% |
32% |
|
15-24 |
18% |
17% |
19% |
21% |
21% |
|
25-34 |
24% |
25% |
22% |
21% |
20% |
|
35 & above |
13% |
12% |
12% |
10% |
9% |
|
Range (years) |
‘06 1-100 |
‘06 101-200 |
‘06 201-300 |
‘06 301-400 |
‘06 401-500 |
|
below 5 |
14% |
19% |
21% |
16% |
21% |
|
5-14 |
31% |
29% |
27% |
34% |
38% |
|
15-24 |
18% |
17% |
23% |
26% |
20% |
|
25-34 |
24% |
25% |
16% |
19% |
15% |
|
35 & above |
13% |
10% |
13% |
5% |
6% |
1980
|
Range (years) |
’80 1-100 |
’80 101-200 |
’80 1-200 |
’80 201-300 |
’80 1-300 |
|
below 5 |
3% |
7% |
5% |
5% |
5% |
|
5-14 |
20% |
26% |
23% |
25% |
23% |
|
15-24 |
13% |
20% |
17% |
26% |
20% |
|
25-34 |
42% |
33% |
37% |
24% |
33% |
|
35 & above |
22% |
14% |
18% |
20% |
19% |
- > In 1980, more than half of CEOs in the top 100 companies studied had been with their company 25 years or longer. This percentage is much greater than the current group of 1-100 CEOs where 37% have been with their current company for more than 25 years. Despite this discrepancy, there has been a slow upward trend in tenure for the past three years, increasing from 34% in 2004 to 36% in 2005 to the current 37% in 2006.
TENURE AS CEO
Average/Median Tenure as CEO
|
S&P 500 CEO Group |
Average Tenure |
Median Tenure |
Fortune CEO Group |
Average Tenure |
|
’06 1-100 |
6 Years |
5 years |
’80 1-100 |
7 years |
|
’06 101-200 |
7 |
5 |
’80 101-200 |
7 |
|
’06 1-200 |
7 |
5 |
’80 1-200 |
7 |
|
’06 201-300 |
6 |
4 |
’80 201-300 |
9 |
|
’06 1-300 |
6 |
6 |
’80 1-300 |
8 |
|
’06 301-400 |
6 |
5 |
|
|
|
’06 1-400 |
6 |
7 |
|
|
|
’06 401-500 |
7 |
6 |
|
|
|
‘06 1-500 |
6.5 |
5 |
|
|
- > The median tenure as CEO for the top 100 CEOs made a slight increase from 4 to 5 years this year.
Tenure as CEO Ranges
Current
|
Range (years) |
’06 1-100 |
’06 1-200 |
’06 1-300 |
’06 1-400 |
’06 1-500 |
|
below 6 |
57% |
57% |
58% |
58% |
56% |
|
6-10 |
28% |
26% |
27% |
26% |
26% |
|
11-15 |
9% |
8% |
8% |
8% |
10% |
|
16-20 |
3% |
4% |
3% |
4% |
4% |
|
21 & above |
3% |
5% |
4% |
4% |
4% |
|
Range (years) |
’06 1-100 |
’06 101-200 |
’06 201-300 |
’06 301-400 |
’06 401-500 |
|
below 6 |
57% |
57% |
59% |
57% |
49% |
|
6-10 |
28% |
25% |
28% |
24% |
26% |
|
11-15 |
9% |
8% |
7% |
9% |
16% |
|
16-20 |
3% |
4% |
2% |
7% |
3% |
|
21 & above |
3% |
6% |
4% |
3% |
6% |
- > This year only 3% of CEOs in the 1-100 group have been in their role 21 years or longer compared to 6% in 2005.
1980
|
Range (years) |
’80 1-100 |
’80 101-200 |
’80 1-200 |
’80 201-300 |
’80 1-300 |
|
below 6 |
46% |
48% |
47% |
34% |
43% |
|
6-10 |
41% |
32% |
36% |
38% |
36% |
|
11-15 |
8% |
16% |
12% |
17% |
14% |
|
16-20 |
3% |
2% |
3% |
4% |
3% |
|
21 & above |
2% |
2% |
2% |
7% |